Inmate listed as escaped returns to halfway house

CONCORD — A female inmate reported missing at the Shea Farm Transitional Housing Unit returned to the facility about a half-hour after she was placed on escape status, the New Hampshire Department of Corrections said Sunday.

Valerie Jean Charest, 28, formerly of Derry, had not returned from work as of 8:30 p.m. Saturday and was listed as escaped.

Charest arrived at the transitional housing facility around 9 p.m. and was taken to the New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Women in Goffstown, the Department of Corrections said in a news release on Sunday.

Charest was sentenced last March to serve a one- to two-year prison term for theft by unauthorized taking.

She was eligible for parole this Feb. 8; her maximum release date was Feb. 8, 2019, officials said.